Personal cleansing and conditioning products have traditionally been marketed in a variety of forms such as bar soaps, creams, lotions, and gels. These formulations have attempted to satisfy a number of criteria to be acceptable to consumers. These criteria include cleansing effectiveness, skin feel, mildness to skin, hair, and ocular mucosae, and lather volume. Ideal personal cleansers should gently cleanse the skin or hair, cause little or no irritation, and not leave the skin or hair overly dry after frequent use.
However, these traditional forms of personal cleansing products have the inherent problem of balancing cleansing efficacy against delivering a conditioning benefit. One solution to this problem is to use separate cleansing and conditioning products. However, this is not always convenient or practical and many consumers would prefer to use a single product which can both cleanse and condition the skin or hair. In a typical cleansing composition the conditioning ingredients are difficult to formulate because many conditioners are incompatible with the surfactants, resulting in an undesirable non-homogeneous mixture. To obtain a homogeneous mixture with conditioning ingredients, and to prevent the loss of conditioning ingredients before deposition, additional ingredients, e.g. emulsifiers, thickeners, and gellants are often added to suspend or emulsify the conditioning ingredients within the surfactant mixture. This results in an aesthetically pleasing homogeneous mixture, but often results in poor deposition of conditioning ingredients, because the conditioners are emulsified and not efficiently released during cleansing. Also, many conditioning agents have the disadvantage of suppressing lather generation. Lather suppression is a problem because many consumers seek cleansing products that provide a rich, creamy, and generous lather.
In addition, traditional formulations have been very ineffective in depositing water soluble conditioning agents to the skin or hair. It is desirable to deposit both oil soluble conditioning agents (e.g., emollients and lipids) and water soluble conditioning agents (e.g., humectants) to the skin in order to maximize acute and chronic skin conditioning benefits. With proper formulation techniques oil soluble agents can be deposited onto the skin or hair due to their inherent hydrophobic nature. However, deposition of water soluble conditioning agents with traditional cleansers is often difficult since water soluble conditioning agents typically rinse-away leaving only deposition of hydrophobic agents. Attempts have been made to deposit water soluble conditioning agents through the use of multiple emulsions (e.g., a water-in-oil-in-water emulsion). Although theoretically possible, this approach has been difficult in practice due to poor long-term shelf stability and product aesthetics.
The present invention eliminates this paradigm since the surfactants and the conditioning agents can be separately added directly onto the substrate. In this manner, the water soluble conditioning agents can simply be emulsified into an oil soluble agent and added to the substrate. This simple emulsion remains stable on the substrate and prevents the water soluble conditioning agent from being rinsed-away during the cleansing process since the water soluble conditioner is protected within the emulsion. As a result, the present invention effectively deposits both oil soluble and water soluble conditioning agents to the skin and hair.
Therefore, it is seen that conventional cleansing products which attempt to combine surfactants and both water soluble and oil soluble conditioning ingredients suffer from disadvantages inherently resulting from the incompatibilities of surfactants, water soluble conditioning agents, and oil soluble conditioning agents. A need clearly exists to develop cleansing systems which provide effective cleansing and yet deposit both water soluble and oil soluble conditioning agents in a single product.
It is also highly desirable to deliver cleansing and conditioning benefits from a disposable, single use product. Disposable products are convenient because they obviate the need to carry cumbersome bottles, bars, jars, tubes, and other forms of both cleansing and conditioning products. Disposable products are also a more sanitary alternative to the use of a sponge, washcloth, or other cleansing implement intended for multiple reuse, because such implements develop bacterial growth, unpleasant odors, and other undesirable characteristics related to repeated use.
It has been surprisingly found in the present invention that products can be developed to provide effective cleansing and conditioning in a convenient, cost effective, and sanitary disposable personal cleansing product. The present invention provides the convenience of not needing to use both a separate cleansing and conditioning product. The present invention is highly convenient to use because it is in the form of a substantially dry product that is wetted before use.
The present invention relates to a dry, disposable, personal cleansing product useful for both cleansing and conditioning the skin or hair. These products are used by the consumer by wetting the dry product with water. The product consists of a water insoluble substrate, a surfactant, and a conditioning emulsion. Without being limited by theory, it is believed that the substrate enhances lathering at low surfactant levels, increases cleansing and exfoliation, and optimizes delivery and deposition of both water soluble and oil soluble conditioning ingredients. As a result, this invention provides effective cleansing using low, and hence less irritating, levels of surfactant while providing superior conditioning benefits. It has also been found that these products are useful for delivering a wide range of active ingredients to the skin or hair during the cleansing process.
It is therefore, an object of the present invention to provide substantially dry products for both cleansing and conditioning the skin or hair wherein the products are used in combination with water.
It is another object of the present invention to provide products which deliver both water soluble conditioning agents and oil soluble conditioning agents to the skin or hair.
It is another object of the present invention to provide products which deliver water soluble conditioning agents to the skin or hair.
It is another object of the present invention to provide products comprising a water insoluble substrate, a surfactant, and a conditioning emulsion.
It is another object of the present invention to provide products which are disposable and intended for single use.
It is another object of the present invention to provide products which are mild to the skin or hair.
It is another object of the present invention to provide products useful for delivering active ingredients to the skin or hair during the cleansing and conditioning process.
It is another object of the present invention to provide methods of cleansing and conditioning the skin or hair.
It is another object of the present invention to provide methods of manufacturing the products of the present invention.
These and other objects of this invention will become apparent in light of the following disclosure.